M.I.A. Returns!

The New issue ofComplex magazine arrived in the mail yesterday and I was so excited to see M.I.A. on the cover. The expected release date of her third album entitled /\/\/\Y/\ (no this isn’t an HTML fail) is June 29. M.I.A. truly defines what this blog is all about – the intersection of pop and social justice. Below is an excerpt from the article and M.I.A.’s new single “XXXO” – the first from the new album.

Mathangi “Maya” Arulpragasam doesn’t trust Google. Sure, the company’s motto is “Don’t be evil,” but she’s not fooled. He who controls information controls power, and she’s never been one to relinquish control easily. After a childhood spent missing an activist father who was on the lam from the Sri Lankan government, she came to music after touring with a band as a videographer—and then created a global fanbase before she’d ever done a live show. This isn’t some doe-eyed ingenue who caught a producer’s eye; this is the first true success story of Internet DIY music (sorry, Drake).

Even now, on the verge of her third album, the globe-trotting MC/producer/Oscar nominee/tastemaker is as restless as ever. She spoke to us from the U.K., nestled in her mum’s home with her 1-year-old son, Ikhyd. Ikhyd’s grandpa may be a billionaire (Maya’s man Ben Bronfman is the son of Warner Music Group CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr.), but M.I.A. is determined for her child to grow up outside a life of easy comfort. He might not be lacking, but he damn sure won’t be slacking.

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A new Okayplayer article profiles street and subway dancers of color who, once a staple of New York City’s commuter culture, find their shows restricted by police and residents who seem them as a nuisance.